Improved cae-beake



`Letters Patent No. 75,501, dated .March 10, 1868.

IMPROVED CAR-BRAKE.

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TO 4ALIA WHOM IT 'MAY CONCERNE 'Be it knownythat we, JAMES WIIITE andTHoMAS LINGLE, of South Amboy, in the county of Middlesex, and Stateof New Jersey, have invented a new and improved Railroad-Car Brake; and wedo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those 'skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in whi(h i y i Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partlyin section, of our invention.

, Figure 2 is a rea'rend elevation, partly in section, of a locomotive having our improved apparatus foroperf, atingthe brake. i v l y i Figure 3 is an inverted plan view of our invention. Similar letters of reference indicate-corresponding parta t This invention relates to anew device for operating car-brakes from thelocomotive, said device`vb'eing so arranged that thebrakes'of a whole train of cars can be applied to the wheels of the cars from thel locomotive whenever desired, and be applied with any desired degree of force, and be all released or applied simultaneously by the engineer. v i

The invention consistshrst, in arranging a frame, in the lower end of which a horizontalshaft is hung for '.winding up the. brakelchain, and in suspending this frame near. the rear 'end of the locomotive, and in connect- Y `ing the said shaft with vthe axleof .therear wheels of the locomotive by a, belt, all the parts being so'arranged that the 'weight of the suspended frame willaltvays keep the belt stretched. y The invention consists, second, fan-providing a sliding clutch on.the aforesaid shaft, which is connected with a sleeve turningl looseon 'the shaft,4 the' brake-chain being attached to-thesaid sleeve. The sleeve Iturns loose 'on the shaft until it is, by the engineer, thrown against the clutch on the shaftwhich is done by means of a lever reaching'up throghthe platform of the locomotive. The sleeve will then bex-evolved with the shaft, and the chain be wound u'p.- Z f 'i The inventionconsists,thirdly, inV the application of a guage, whereby the winding-up of the chain is stopped assoon as the brakes arefnllya-pplied, and whereby the sleeve will Abe thrown outof gear if 'further Winding up of the ehnini's attempted. i I The inventionA consists, fourthly, in vtheuse of a device for4 preventing the chain from being unwound, even L i f the sleeveis not morein-gear withth'e shaft, and in an arrangement for settingithesleeve free whenever desired,'so that the brakes may be released. The invention consists, nally, in suchan arrangement and construction of the devices on the cars for operating the brakes that, by a contin'uons'chain or link, all the brakes may be simultaneously operated from the locomotive, the parts bengso 4arranged that a hand-brake can be applied on each car, whereby the .brakes on each car can be operated separately from those on the' other cars or" a train by a-person standing on the platform of the said car,'s o that our improvement can he applied on all cars new in use, without interferingwith the mechanism and operation of other contrivances. that may already be arranged on such ears. u A represents the -r'ear revolving axle on alocomotive, connecting the `Wheels B in the ordinary manner. C is a frame, consisting of two upright hars, a a, the lower en ds of which are connected by ahorizontal bar, b, while their upper ends are hinged to the underside ofthe platform of the locomotive, near to the-rear end of thesame, as shown. E is a' horizontal. shaft, having'its bearings in the uprights a of the frame C, so as to turn freely in vthe same. 4'lwefpulleys, c aremounted 4on the ends of the shaft E. `nl al4 are two belts, which are laid overth pulleys ca ',fand over the axle A, so-as to impart motion from the latter to the shaft E. i

The fraaie l'C s'hnng so that'its lower end`wll incline fortrardgnr rather the belts d d are made so short that Athe frame'will hang in this position, the object of which is to make the weight of the frame Candits. appendages continually tend-to bring it into a vertical position, thereby keeping the belts d right at all times.

v F is a sleeve, which isiitted' around the shaftV E, so as toturn and slide loosely on, the same. i At one end of this sleeve is a clutch, whichcanbe fitted into a clutch yformed on the pulleys,..wherebylthe sleeve can be madeiflto revolve with the shaft y i l Q is aslidingbar arranged above the shaft in the frame t has a downward-'projecting pin, jgavhich fits into aigroove that is provided in the clutch on the sleeve F. One end of the bar e is hinged to a bell-crank, g, which is pivoted to 'the -outside of one of the arms a, and to which the lowerA end of a vertical rod, h, which passes up through the platform of the locomotive, is pivoted. spring, t', which is fitted on the rode, has the tendency to push the said lrod towards the bell-crank, .thereby d'isengaging the clutches.I By pressing upon the upper end of the rod h,vt,he bar el will be moved in the direction of the ,arrow in `fig. 2, therebymoving, by means 4of the pinfgthe sleeve Ftowards the pulley c, whereby the sleeve will be thrown intogear with the shaft E. The front end ofthe brake-chain G is attached to the sl'eeveKF', near that end of it on which the clutch is arranged. 4 I

A A groove for receiving the chain may be arranged in the line of a screw-thread'aronnd the sleeve, so that the chain will he woundevenly. ,I Assoon as the rod 71, is depressed the sleeve will he thrown into gear with the shaft E, and will be revel-ved, lso -as to-wind'the chain' Garound it. As long as the lever is thus depressed, the sleeve will continue to revolve.

To prevent the tearing of the chain, which would be the case if the revolution of the sleeve is not stopped as soon as. the brakes are applied, we have arranged an adjustable gauge,j', whichis a bar hinged to the under side of the platform D, and fitted through a staple on the rod @and then bent so as to partlyenclose the sleeve F. As soon as the chain is woundup so far on the sleeve` that it strikes against the lower end of the rod j, it will move the rod e towards the bell-crank, and will thereby disengage the sleeve from the shaft E, and elevate .the rod z. The staple on the bar e,' which surrounds the gauge j, can be adjusted on the bar e, by means: of setscrews or otherwise, so that the position'ofthe gauge may be regulated in accordance with the width of the brake-shoes, the gauge'being gradually moved .towards the bell-crank asthel shoes are becoming worn.

When the chain is wound around the sleeve, the latter has to be disengaged. from the shaft E, and would certainly turn and unwind the chain, as'soon as itis thus disengaged from the shaft E, if-some arrangement for preventing it from turning had-not been provided. V'.lhis arrangement consists in the useof a toothed or ratchetwheel, c, which ,is mounted onone end of the sleeve F, and'in the use of a self-acting s'pring-pawl, Z, which catches into the teeth ofthe .ratchet-wheel as soon as the sleeveis disengaged from the shaft E, or, in other words, as soon as the sleeve has been moved on'the shaft E, so that-the ratchet-wheely will come under the pawl. The pawl Zc'onsists of an elbow-levend', which is 'pivoted to one of theiarms a, as shown, by a pin passing throughthejunction of its two ends.A The lower end of the vertical arm of the lever Z iits into the teeth ofthe .ratchet-wheel, while to the end ofthe horizontal arm is pivoted the lower end of a vertical rod, Z, which passes 'up through .the platform D, and which is provided with aspring, Z', as shown. VThis spring tends 'to raise the bar ll, thereby throwing the end of the bar Z into the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, thereby preventing the sleeve F from revolving.l When the rod Z is pressed' down, the pawl will be disengaged from the ratchet-wheel, and the sleeve will'be free to revolve, thereby allowingthe brake-chain to be unwound from the sleeve.

H H lare the-brake-shoes, which are mounted on cross-bars, I and I', thatare connected, by means of springs, 'm m, to'the under side of the cars. On the outer bars I are hinged upright levers J, the upper ends of which vare connected with rods fn, while theirlower ends are connected, by rods o,- with the opposite'inncr cross-bars I. The rods or chains it are secured tothe ends'of a bar, K, which is pivoted to the under side of the car, as shown. L is the chain which extends from one end of the bar K to the upright shaft M, by which thcbrakes areoperated in the'ordinary manner, from the platform ofthe car, (byturning the said shaft M.)

-The brake-chain G, which is to operate the brakes from the locomotive, passes around three rollers, 21,12,

and g, of which the latter is attached to a sliding rod, N, which is fitted tothe under side of the car, while the rollerspp are stationary, fitted to the under side of the car, as seen' 'in fig. 3. The chain passes first over one roller, p, then over q, and then over the other roller, p; and thus, when the chain is stretched, by being wound upon the sleeve F, it has the-tendency to move the roller g towards the rollers p, thereby sliding the bar K l'rnA the direction of the arrow'in tig. 3. v

The bar N is connected with a lever, O, which is pivoted tothe under side of the car, and which has an arm, 7, which, when the bar N is moved, as described, will press against the bar K, and move or turn'the same in the saine manner as the same is moved when the'chain L'is pulled. The bar N is connected with a spiral or other spring, s, by which it is brought into the originalposition, (that is, the brakes released,) as. soon as the chain G is slackened. If the hand-brake M is used, itwill not interferewith those portions which are connected with the chain G, and will, therefore, have no effect on other cars. The chain G,which need not be a complete chain, as it can be partly composed of rods, can be fitted under a number of oars, and will operate ten and vtwenty cars as well as one. l

We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent-fY 1. The suspended frame C, in combination with the shaft E, axle-A, and band d, and the devices for preserving the tens'ioriof the band, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

n 2. jlhe sliding clutch and sleeve F,Awith brake-chainG attached, substantially as described. for the purpose specified.`

3. `In combination with the sliding clutch, the rod e, pin f,.bell=cra.nk g, and rod h, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.-

4. The self-acting gauge, when the same is arranged for the purposes set forth, and when consisting of the adjustable bar j, arranged as described, in combination with the bar e, bell-crank g, (or its equivalent,) and rod h, all made and operating substantially -as and for the pnrpose'he'rein shownvand described.

5. The adjustable gauge l7,'in combination with grooved sleeve F and rod e, 'substantially as described, for the purposespecied.

6. The device for operating the brakes by the chain G, said device consisting of the arrangement andcom- A l 75,501 3 l i l bination, wthtlieleveKfof he lever O (having 'an arx'n, 73) the sliding bar N, sping-` s,a.nl pulleys p, p, al1

mede and operating. substantially as and for the purpose herein shown nml described.

7. The lever K, in combination with the lever O and chain L, for the purpose f combining the hand-brake With tlt which is opeated fnom the locomotive, substantially as set forth.

8.V The ratchet-vwheelc and spring-pawl Z5 in combinatio with the sleeve F, all constyucted as described, fox' 'the purpose speeileg.'v

. WHITE, THOMAS LINGLE.- Vlisrle'sgses':`

' J. W. FoRMAN,

JOHN MUIRHEID. 

